There’s a place along my drive home where I enjoy stopping and looking out over the prairie, watching Hawks, observing changes in the flora. For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been trying to get near to two different groups of dragonfly species which hang out in that place. One of the groups tends to stay nearer the ground, perching on the barbed-wire fence (see image below), or on the limbs of dead bushes near the fence. The other tends to hover overhead, back and forth over the dry grass, over the road, and over the car. Finally, after about a week of attempts, one of the dragonflies from the first group allowed me to get close enough to snap a decent photo.
White-faced Meadowhawk?
I found it rather intriguing about the first group of dragonflies that they tended to “run away” from me as I approached. I was not able to get much closer than, say, 12 feet. This was kind of unusual, because all the dragonflies around our house tend to stay put as you approach and really don’t seem to mind. It’s fun to observe them as they swivel their heads to keep an eye on you as you draw near. As to the other set of dragonflies that tend to hover over the road, going back and forth between the field (see below, “A View of the Field”) and where my car is parked, looking very much like WWII fighter planes as they fly, they tend to disappear when I get out of my car, hoping to snap a shot of them. It happens so fast, that I really haven’t been able to see them leaving. It’s just that suddenly they are away some distance over the field, and even then they soon vanish from view. When I get back into my car, they soon reappear. So, I haven’t been able to capture them in a photo as of yet. Maybe they’ll get used to me before long and be a little more friendly. I hope so.
The Road Up
A View from the Road Up
A View of the Field
Thistles and Barbed-Wire
